250 - Tom Rooney and Scott Rowe: Buildings are Closed, Learning Goes On!

<p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">In today’s special bonus episode, the Getting Smart team is sharing two school districts’ success stories that are currently shifting to remote learning after the outbreak of the coronavirus. In these schools, the buildings may have closed but the learning has never stopped! Both of these Superintendents have built great teams and great systems and they are confident that education in their districts (and beyond) will emerge better than ever as a result of this crisis.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">First up to speak on the podcast is Tom Rooney from Lindsay Unified, which is located in California’s Central Valley. For the last decade, teachers (called ‘learning facilitators’ in Lindsay) have ensured learners’ success with the performance-based system that promotes agency, transparency, and learner goal setting.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">Next up on the podcast, Tom speaks with Scott Rowe, the Superintendent of the Huntley Community School District located in a Northwest Chicago suburb. The Getting Smart team first visited Huntley in 2016, about five years into their transformation, and were very impressed with the high school blended learning program that allowed learners to earn autonomy and make decisions about their own learning. Two years ago, Huntley launched a competency-based micro-school. Both of these developments prepared Huntley to efficiently move learning online in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;">Both of these education leaders were proactive in crisis and quickly rallied their teams to do the best that they could to support every learner right now. They spotted challenges and built solutions to promote equity. Tune in to learn more about all that they’re doing amid the crisis and how they’re furthering personalized learning.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif;"><strong>Key Takeaway